When I student teach at Westerly High school, the topic I will be teaching first will be genetics. I am excited about this because the study of genetics is one of the areas of biology that I have found to be most interesting. There are many different sub topics of genetics that are important to go over. When I teach I will begin by going over who Gregor Mendel is and discuss his experiments. This will lead into genetic crosses and predicting the outcomes of various pairings. We will also need to discuss meiosis. Following this we will get into pedigrees and genetic disorders. Finally, if we have time, we will finish with the human genome project and gene mapping.
There are many ways one can go about teaching genetics. To begin each sub topic I will start with a lecture, though I will try my best not to lecture uninterrupted for too long so I do not lose their interest. For activities, various punnet squares will be utilized and will increase in difficulty. Also, pedigrees will be utilized towards the end of the unit. A larger project could involve having the students map the genes of their family. This however must be considered carefully as not every student will have easy access to their family’s genes (adopted, divorced parents, ect.). Also, I have heard a story about how a similar project exposed a horrible family secret for one student. Online activities can also be utilized provided the school you are teaching at has access to the necessary technology.
There are many ways one can go about teaching genetics. To begin each sub topic I will start with a lecture, though I will try my best not to lecture uninterrupted for too long so I do not lose their interest. For activities, various punnet squares will be utilized and will increase in difficulty. Also, pedigrees will be utilized towards the end of the unit. A larger project could involve having the students map the genes of their family. This however must be considered carefully as not every student will have easy access to their family’s genes (adopted, divorced parents, ect.). Also, I have heard a story about how a similar project exposed a horrible family secret for one student. Online activities can also be utilized provided the school you are teaching at has access to the necessary technology.